Green Plains, Inc. (GPRE) - What Are Researchers Thinking About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is cautious: Green Plains has a consensus “Hold” rating from seven analysts, with five holds and two buys. The average 12-month price target is $17.00, above the reported share price of $13.98.
• Institutional interest increased: BlackRock, Thomist Capital Management and Bank of America initiated positions, while Dimensional Fund Advisors and Assenagon Asset Management expanded their holdings.
• Recent earnings beat expectations: Green Plains reported quarterly EPS of $0.83 versus the $0.54 consensus estimate, although revenue of $446.22 million fell short of the $542.38 million forecast. Analysts expect full-year EPS of $2.31.

Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.00.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GPRE shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Green Plains from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Green Plains from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Green Plains in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Green Plains from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th.

Institutional Trading of Green Plains

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Green Plains in the second quarter valued at $156,703,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Green Plains by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,643,651 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $27,039,000 after acquiring an additional 145,741 shares during the period. Thomist Capital Management LP bought a new position in Green Plains in the 2nd quarter valued at about $19,542,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Green Plains in the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,546,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 94.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 483,502 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $7,282,000 after acquiring an additional 234,689 shares during the period.

Green Plains Stock Performance

GPRE opened at $13.98 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $980.00 million, a PE ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Green Plains has a 1 year low of $9.29 and a 1 year high of $19.65. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $14.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.65.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.29. Green Plains had a net margin of 6.78% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The business had revenue of $446.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $542.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.09) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Green Plains will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

About Green Plains

Green Plains Inc is a renewable fuels and agricultural technology company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The company operates biorefineries in the central United States that convert corn into renewable, low-carbon products, including ethanol, animal feed ingredients and corn oil.

Its product portfolio includes fuel-grade ethanol for blending into gasoline, distillers grains and other feed products for livestock and aquaculture, and corn oil used in feed and renewable fuel applications.

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